


FRACTURED

by writing_practice



Series: Three Days in February [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1D Trick or Treat Fest 2020, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Angst, Cursed Louis Tomlinson, Established Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Halloween, Harry Styles - Freeform, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, M/M, Magical Realism, Scary, Spooky, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27136601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_practice/pseuds/writing_practice
Summary: Strong fingers slide through claw-marks slashed through Louis’ shirt, curve unrelenting over bare skin.“The fuck did you do, Lou?” Harry whispers.________Louis can't escape a past that won't let him go.________
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Three Days in February [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888597
Comments: 29
Kudos: 44
Collections: 1D Trick Or Treat Fest 2020





	FRACTURED

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tooyoung_toostressedout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tooyoung_toostressedout/gifts), [zanni_scaramouche](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zanni_scaramouche/gifts), [bitnotgood310](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitnotgood310/gifts).



> It's official, we finally have Louis's POV! That in itself was terrifying for me to do, but really learning his voice has been an incredible experience.
> 
> Huge shoutout to Aoife, Zanni, and Belle for their unending support in me and my writing. I would not still be writing in this fandom without you! You are true gifts.
> 
> Sidenote: Not that I should be surprised, but from Louis's POV, Harry is ridiculously alluring.

Sunless air drips thick and sticky down his spine. Smoke prickles his throat. The nicotine opens his airways, allows him to breathe.

Below, the club music pumps at the edge of his consciousness, a dull throb at the base of his skull.

He holds the stub and the last dregs of smoke in far past their expiration date. 

Pocketing his pack and the zippo from Zayn, he leaves the balcony. 

The sweat of pulsing, costumed bodies, intoxicated and irradiated in neon body paint, envelops him. 

He can’t see the other lads.

As he reaches ground level the black-lights flare up his arms and neck. He’s not wearing a costume, tattoos masked beneath millions of chaotic fluorescent handprints branded into his bare skin. 

Skirting the edge of the dance floor, he spots a tarot reader in one dark corner.

The man’s gaze finds him across the distance. 

He reaches the table. The man sets a card down sideways in the centre, completes the cross.

“I know what you are.”

A finger glides over his buried bird tattoo.

Darkness floods his vision.

He chokes.

The handprints awaken, burrow beneath his skin, crawling, clawing, cleaving into him. Oozing frost congeals over his limbs, lashes him down. He can’t move, can’t see, can’t break free. Icy tendrils coil around his spine, creeping chains caging, clenching, crushing him. He screams into the suffocating shadows. His lips form words. Slick silence slithers through his open lips, slashes his vocal cords. No sound penetrates the endless binding black. 

“Lou.”

Louis sucks in a breath, hands flying to Harry’s on his hips. Pushing into the solid chest behind him, he begs his heart to pound the terror away.

“Fucking startled me, you tit.” 

His fingers curve around Harry’s but Harry’s already gone.

He whirls around.

“Hazza, wait!”

Weaving through swaying strangers before they can separate him from Harry, Louis follows him to the service entrance. The flickering light over the doors struggles to illuminate the vacant alley.

Harry pins him against the wall left of the door and freezes. Just outside the faint circle of light, their breaths mingle in the silence. Harry’s close, not close enough. Black shirt half-buttoned, his cross and swallows ensnare Louis's vision. Harry’s hipbone digs into Louis’s palm when he curls his fingers into the fabric, tugs him closer.

Harry doesn’t move.

Strong fingers slide into claw-marks slashed through Louis’ shirt, curve unrelenting over bare skin.

“The fuck did you do, Lou?” Harry whispers.

He doesn’t dare look down and make it real, focusing instead on Harry’s solid heat encompassing him.

“What makes you think I fucking did anything?”

He wets his lips, brushes them against Harry’s. Harry’s grip tightens. 

“We can’t. Not yet.”

Louis draws air into his lungs; Harry draws symbols into his skin.

“How ‘bout I fucking take you home then, rockstar?”

Harry’s grin is crooked, the one dimple on display at odds with the desperate resignation shading his eyes unnaturally green.

“You know where to find me, Lou.”

He vanishes inside.

Alone, Louis eases shaky fingers into the slashes in his shirt, fighting to keep his breathing even.

Knocking his head against the wall, he shoves his fist into the rough brick digging into his back, lurches away from his last support.

He needs another smoke. Plunging his hand into the right-front pocket of his jeans, his fingers close around a card, no larger than his palm.

Locked in place, Louis stares at the golden-boned skeleton, caged and choking on the suffocating abyss of its prison. Spidery writing lacerates the black, punctures the wraith.

_Your demons will expose you._

He turns the card over. The two words claw down his throat, pierce his lungs, feed on his air.

_Finish it._

The lamp flickers, goes out. Inky twilight engulfs the alley.

Frigid shackles twist around him, tear his tattered clothes, shroud his senses, smother his scream.

The shadows bury him, isolate him from Harry’s panicked cry.

_Louis!_

But he’s too far away to save him now.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'll forever be in awe of you readers. I'd love to know what you thought and/or what clues stood out to you! 
> 
> A link to this fic-post for reblogging on Tumblr can be found **[here](https://mercurial-madhouse.tumblr.com/post/633418872725372929/fractured-m-666-words-by-mercurial-madhouse)**.
> 
> This fic is technically part of the Three Days in February universe. You can find _Three Days in February_ **[here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25849366/chapters/62802772)**. Just a warning, don't read it at night!
> 
> I also have one more fic that's set in this universe called _Interlude: One Night in March_ , which you can find **[here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26019796)**.
> 
> And finally, here's [my Tumblr](https://mercurial-madhouse.tumblr.com) if you'd like to chat and/or find out more about what's coming next! I love making new friends so come say hi!
> 
> Cheers!  
> M


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